Reunion in Paradise
by NameSake15
Summary: What happens when the gang at the 12th goes on vacation and runs into Castles past/future?
1. Chapter 1

_Authors Note: this is my first Fanfic. This first chapter is everything leading up to when they, Mal and Inara, reunite. The next chapter will be more fun._

There was an abrupt knocking followed by the shouts "Ryan! Jenny! We are going to be late!"

"We're coming!" Ryan answered and not a second later the door swung open to reveal the married couple with two large suitcases. He said, "Ok, let's go!"

The group piled into Castles SUV and set off for the airport. Castle was driving, with Beckett in the passenger seat, Ryan and Jenny were in the middle seats, and Lanie and Esposito were in the back. The vehicle was filled with excitement about the exotic island Castle was taking them to because of the success from his latest book, and the fact that he had not spent summer with the gang since they met four years ago.

When they pulled into the airport they unloaded their luggage from the back of castles SUV and strolled into the big building. Bag-check and security took awhile due to the fact that three detectives were going onto a plane, so they had to do a special check with their guns. They were used to it given they have flown before.

By the time everything was cleared they were practically running to catch their flight and barely made it. Getting situated was easy because they were flying first class. Complements of Richard Castle. The seating arrangement was Jenny and Ryan, Esposito and Laine, and Castle and Beckett. The first four have never flown first class so they were like little kids on Christmas morning, exploring and touching everything!

When the plane first set off Beckett asked, "So how long is this flight going to take?"

"About three hours, give or take." Castle answered. "So we should arrive on the island just around noon."

"That's good" Beckett responded.

During the flight there were naps, several card games, and some reading. After about two hours and forty-five minutes, Lanie gave an excited squeal when she saw the island. This made everyone else look through their windows. Beckett blushed when Castle had to lean over her to get a glimpse of the extrodinary sight.

"It's beautiful," stated Beckett smiling.

"Yeah, It is," Castle replied. But Kate didn't see that he was looking at her when he said it.

The plane landed and everyone was happy to get off. They got their luggage from the baggage claim. None of them were surprised except maybe Jenny when they got outside to see that there was a big black van waiting for them. They all got in and were off to the extravagant hotel. Once they got there, the boys went to go check in and get the room keys, leaving the girls to talk.

"Dang! This place is amazing!" Shouted and excited Lanie.

"I know right? A week of pure relaxation." Beckett agreed.

Jenny who was still new to the group stuck with "Yeah, Kevin was so excited when he told me we got invited. Mr. Castle is a great friend."

"Please, call me Castle," the man in question said as he and the boys walked up. "And thank you. My hard working friends deserve a nice break every once in a while."

When the detectives all agreed, Esposito said, "Hey, Chica, here is our room key." She held her hand out and he replied by handing it to her while Ryan gave Jenny theirs.

"Beckett here is yours," Castle said handing her own key.

"Thanks," the girls all said in unison.

They headed towards the elevator and got in once it dinged. Ryan pushed the last button, floor six, and stood by Jenny. Once they finally got to their floor, they all headed to their designated rooms to drop off their luggage and un-pack. After fifteen minutes or so, Castle walked over to Beckett's room and knocked.

She opened it and said, "this place is amazing, Castle! Thank you so much!"

He gave her that grin that's only reserved for her and said, "It's the least I could do detective," he simply stated. "By the way, I was thinking that we could all go have lunch at this restaurant down the way, then everyone can do as they please." Risking an ear he said smiling, "maybe a little swimsuit action from a very nice detective I know?"

"Haha! In your dreams, Castle!" Kate said mirroring his smile.

After repeating the relevant part of the message to everyone else, they were on their way to the restaurant within ten minutes.

On the way there Jenny announced, "The hotel room has a beautiful view of the ocean."

"Yeah it does, Bro. Your good at picking out places to stay. Our room has a freaking flat screen!" Said, Esposito.

Everyone else agreed. Their excitement freely showing in their expressions and tones. When they got to the restaurant Esposito and Ryan pulled two tables and many chairs together and sat down. The others followed their actions and took a seat.

The waiter came took their drink orders, giving them more time to look over their menu. During this time there were a lot of; "Ooo the cheese burgers look good", "I'm sort of in a pasta mood", and "Check this out, pizza on a tropical island!"

Esposito had his arm around Lanie and Ryan's was around Jenny. When the waiter came he took their orders one by one, and when it came to Beckett's turn, the waiter gave her a flirtatious smile and asked, "So what can I get this beautiful young lady?"

She blushed and gave him a half- hearted smile. And as she started to give her order, Castle put his arm around her and glared at the waiter. Beckett paused at his sudden movement but finished speaking. When he saw Castle and what he did, his smile fell and said, "Umm, uhr, thank you," and hurried away. When he was gone Castle removed his arm.

Beckett turned towards him and looked at him questioning, "What was that about?"

Castle looked at her innocently and shrugged, "You had something on your shoulder."

She gave him that _Oh-I__'__m-sure_look but dropped it as quick as it came. Sitting across from her, Lanie looked at her with that _He-is-soooo-into-you_ look which made Kate just rolled her eyes in response. About ten minutes later their food arrived. The waiter did not look at Beckett or Castle in the eye when he gave them their food. While they ate, their meal was filled with happy conversation that involved a few memories and jokes.

An hour later they found themselves back in the hotel thinking about what to do. Espo and Lanie ended up deciding that they were going to go for a swim in the ocean, Ryan and Jenny were going to the local aquarium, and Castle and Beckett decided that they would take it easy and relax on the beach.

Thirty minutes later Beckett was reading a book and Castle was pretending to sleep but was really watching her.

"Take a picture. It will last longer," She said suddenly and smiled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Castle said attempting to defend himself.

"Oh, I'm sure you don't writer boy," she said laughing.

"Hey! It's writer man!" Castle exclaimed.

"Are we interrupting something?" the two other couples asked as they walked up to the wanna-be couple.

Smirking at them Beckett asked, "So, what do you guys want to do?"

"How about just a walk on the beach?" Lanie suggested.

They all agreed and started down the beach. They were telling hilarious stories from the past four years and laughing. They were all having a great time.

Suddenly Castle stopped. The five of them had to turn around to look at him. All that was on his mind was I_t__can__'__t__be__her.__Can__it?_They all followed his gaze and saw the beautiful woman he was staring at.

He gave it a try and called out, "Inara?"

The greatly dressed woman turned around and looked as if she saw a ghost when she said, "Mal? Is that you?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Suddenly Castle stopped. The five of them had turn around to look at him. All that was on his mind was _it can't be her. Can it? _They all followed his gaze and saw the beautiful woman he was staring at._

_He gave it a try and called out, "Inara?"_

_The greatly dressed woman turned around and looked as if she saw a ghost when she said, "Mal? Is that you?"_

After staring at each other for a minute with blank yet hopeful expressions, Castle let out a small, "Ya." A big smile covered Inaras face. When he knew for sure his mind wasn't just playing a cruel trick on him he mirrored that big smile and ran to the woman he dreamt and thought about so often when he first got to Earth-that-was. He pulled her into a bone-crushing hug but after a minute let go of her when a throat behind him cleared. When Castle turned towards his friends he saw five stunned faces.

Beckett broke the silence and asked, "So who is this?"

Castle responded with, "She is, um, my, uh-"

"Good friend" Inara filled in.

"Ya. What she said" Castle stated. "Inara, these are my friends Ryan, Jenny, Esposito, Lanie, and Beckett" he said pointing to each individual.

"It's nice to meet you all." Inara said putting her hand out towards Beckett.

Beckett shook her hand with a forced smile. Noticing the tension between them, Ryan spoke up saying, "Hey Castle, we'll just go back to the hotel and get cleaned up while you and your friend catch up."

Nodding in agreement him, Esposito, Lanie and Jenny turned to walk away. Beckett stayed a moment longer giving castle a look that asked if the mystery woman was safe or not. With a nod in return Beckett said to Inara, "nice to meet you" and turned to follow the others back to the hotel.

Only to hear the lady say to Castle, "Malcolm, why are they calling you Castle?" Really confused, Beckett ran to catch up with her friends.

Answering her question Mal said, "First of all, do not call me Malcolm. And that's my name here. Richard Castle to be more specific."

"But it sounds so… not you" She said with a smirk.

"Exactly. It hurt too much when people called me Mal. I was always thinking about my life that was taken away from. So I did what I had to do."

"Wow. I never pegged you for such a softy." Inara said jokingly.

"Ya, well, there's a lot 'a things ya don't know 'bout me" Mal said, His accent coming out.

"This just makes me realize how much I really did miss you Mal." she said pulling him into another hug.

"It has been _way _to long. Wait." He said pulling back and putting his hands on her shoulders so he could focus on her, "How are you even here?"

Liking the fact that she knew more information than he did at the moment she smiled and simply stated, "The same way you got here. Time travel."

As they shifted over to sit at a nearby table he said, "Ok, why don't you state the obvious here. But it still don't explain _why _you're here."

"Well, I don't really know how we're here." seeing his confused expression she continued, "Fanty and Mingo sent us on a job. we in the middle of space when Boom! Everything went black. When we woke up we were on a mountain. We all got off the boat and came into town. No one knew where we were until we saw the cars. Zoe stopped and said that we were in the past. Jayne said we were probably just on an outer planet. We all wanted to believe that until Kaylee asked someone what year it was. They looked at us weird and said it was 2011. We all knew then that we needed to get back home, so Simon and River went back to the ship while everyone else went to go look for parts we could use to make a time machine. And now I'm here." She finished with a smile.

"Wait. The rest of my crew is here?" Mal said looking around. Excitement filling his expression .

"Yes. But they won't be back until sometime tomorrow."

"well lets just hope tomorrow comes faster" Mal said.

The two friends sat there talking for hours when Mal finally looked at his watch, "Well it's about time for dinner so I better head back to the hotel. Would you like to accompany us to dinner tonight?" He asked as he stood up.

Seeing that twinkle of hope in his eyes she replied, "I would love to." Standing up next to him.

Their walk back to the hotel was in comfortable silence, just eating up each other's presence. Deciding to risk it Inara grabbed Mal's hand. He tensed for a split second before he intertwined their fingers together, warmly smiling at her. In Inaras mind she was thinking about this as the two of them finally taking a chance at something more. In his mind he was about different possibilities.

As they got off the elevator on his floor, a door opened in the distance and out came Esposito and Lanie.

"Hey!" Castle yelled "You guys wanna go out to eat dinner?"

"Ya man. I'll go get Ryan and Jenny" Espo said as he headed towards the couples door.

"Great. I'll get Beckett." He said as he and Inara walked towards Beckett's room. Inara was a couple feet away from Him when he knocked on the door. They could vaguely hear shuffling before the door swung open to reveal the beautiful detective.

Smiling at her Castle said,"Hey, the rest of us are going out to eat. Want to come?"

"Ya sure" she said smiling as she came out into the hallway closing the door behind her. When she looked to her left and saw Castles mystery woman her smile faltered. When they turned around they were greeted by the two other couples.

"So where are we going?" Jenny asked politely.

"I saw this one dinner a few blocks away." Lanie suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Castle confirmed.

And with that, they headed towards the elevator. But what Castle and inara didn't see were the looks exchanged from the rest of the group aimed at them because Castle brought his new lady friend.

**Remember to Review! Feel free to inbox me suggestions you might have for later chapters!**


	3. Chapter 3

"_I saw this one diner a couple blocks away." Lanie suggested_

"_Sounds good to me." Castle confirmed. And with that the group headed towards the elevator._

The ride down to the lobby was filled with tension due to the fact that Castle was bringing his apparently 'real good friend' along to dinner. The car ride had no less tension than the elevator. Laine, Esposito, and Ryan had something against Inara from the moment she and Castle re-connected on the beach. They could tell that there was defiantly a history with the two and didn't like it because they were all for Beckett and Castle getting together.

Beckett didn't like Inara because of the way they looked at each other. _He is supposed to love me! _She thought, _at least that's what he told me when I got shot. But that was a year ago, and I was too chicken to bring it up. But what about the things he has done for me? And those looks he has thrown in _my_ direction. What does all of that mean now? Have I lost my chance? _She frowned at these thoughts but was determined not to let her internal was get the best of her.

A couple minutes later they pulled up to the diner. It was a medium sized building that was a light color of blue. There are is a palm tree on both sides of the entrance. It defiantly stood out from the other buildings surrounding it. When they walked inside they were greeted with the smell of burgers and fries. The interior was a warm yellow with exotic looking plants hanging on the walls. A waitress came over and led them to a table and took their drink orders.

"So how was your guys' afternoon?" Castle asked.

"Good. We mostly just relaxed." Beckett said.

"Ya. Our first actual free day in months when we don't have to worry about being called in." Ryan added.

"What do you all do? That is, if you don't mind me asking?" Inara questioned.

"We are NYPD detectives" Esposito responded proudly.

"Mal you work for the law!" Inara asked with a very shocked expression on her face.

"Um. No. I just help out." Castle stated as he tried to avoid her gaze.

"Wow. I guess things really do change." She responded as the waitress brought their drinks and took their food orders.

"No, but Castle here does way more than just help out." Ryan said, "One time he saved the entire city of New York by disabling a bomb."

"Why does that not surprise me?" She said as she gazed into Castles eyes and gave him a warm smile. "You know… I have stories on him that no one knows about. That is if you want to hea—"

"Um no, no, no," Castle interrupted. "So what do you guys want to do after this?"

"Oh no Castle. You aren't getting out of this one." Beckett said as she smirked at him. Giving him that look that says 'I'll find out anyway'.

"Ya. We will _finally _have something on you" Laine agreed. She turned towards Inara and said, "As you were saying."

Inara couldn't help but smile as she witnessed her friend getting verbally kicked in the ass by these two women. One of which she has noticed has purposely avoided conversation with her. And has thrown a look in her and Mal's direction. A look she knows too well as jealousy.

"Right. Well let's see…" she said as she turned in her seat to look at Mal. "how bout I tell them about the time in the desert?"

"Tzao gao, Tasi boo shr. You are going to be the death of me." Mal said as he put his face in his hands.

Inara laughed at this and looked at the rest of the group as she said, "So he was on a mission with his ex- wife, if you can even call her that, and things went in the wrong direction at the end." She stated. "I ended up having to rescue him from the middle of the desert."

"The desert bro?" Esposito asked as the waitress brought their food. "What were you doing in the desert?"

Castle decided to play it simple and said, "Long story that can wait for another time."

"Oh. And that's not even the best part." Inara said. This got the groups attention. "When I rescued him he was stark. Naked"

At this the entire group erupted into laughter. And while Mal just closed his eyes and shook his head he thought, _they are _never _going to let me live this one down._

As the laughing died down Ryan asked curiously, "So explain Castle. Why were you and Meredith in the desert in the first place?"

_Oh shit! _He thought as he opened his mouth. But before any words could come out Inara spoke first and faced him, "Who is Meredith?"

The group quieted as they watched the exchange go between the two friends.

Completely toung- tied, Mal tried to come up with the right words, "Umm... well… you see… she is my, a, first _real _wife."

"First? Does this mean you have been married more than twice?"

"Well… uh… yes" he said the last word quietly because his friends know nothing about his old life.

"Wow Mal. The preacher would not be happy to hear that." She said with a slight chuckle. But on the inside all she could feel was more jealousy at the fact that two more women had the chance at calling him their own. She desperately wanted that and was not going to wait any longer, she thought. That night she was going to confront him about it.

"Castle!" Beckett said. "What does she mean _more than two wives_?"

He quickly defended himself and said, "Hey! In my defense, I was horribly drunk and I was on another… um… in another country where if at a celebration if you accept a flower crown thing from a woman and dance with her you just got yourself hitched!"

"Wow. I guess meeting one of your friends, Castle, has given us information that only few people know." Lanie stated.

"Ya seriously." Ryan said as he chuckled.

"Was she at least hot?" Esposito asked Castle, and got a slap on the arm from Lanie in return.

"Hot? How about a crazy psychopath?"

"I think a crazy Psychopath sums it up." Inara stated, "Especially after she tried to kill Mal here and some of our other friends"

"Dang Castle. You must have a thing for crazies" Beckett said with a laugh as everyone agreed.

Changing the subject Beckett asked, "So Inara, what brings you to the islands?"

Caught off guard she hastily replied, "Oh, umm, it was an unexpected visit. And it seemed nice I guess."

Coming into the conversation Castle said, "Well you always do pick the best Inara."

"Oh I don't know about that Mal." She said catching the attention of the others, "I mean I spent a year and a half with you didn't I?"

At that a sudden explosion of laughter erupted from their table. Inara gave Mal a smirk as he put a hand up to his chest acting offended at the joke.

"Oh man Castle! She got you good!" Esposito choked out in between laughs.

After the laughter died down Beckett asked unsure if she wanted to know the answer, "How long has it been since you saw each other?"

"Um. Two years" Inara said.

Upon hearing this, Mal choked on his water. But decided to discuss it with her later instead of in front of his oblivious friends.

Beckett's was stunned as she heard the other woman's words. _Two years ago? _She asked herself. _But that means Castle and this mysterious woman knew each other while he and I were working together._

As if he read her mind, Ryan asked the question, "Dude. We have been working together for about five years now. Why have we never met her?"

Castle being good with words replied smoothly, "Oh, you know, time got away." He looked at Inara and gave her a warm smile, "besides. She travels a lot."

Beckett was sitting on the other side of the table looking at them with a slight frown on her face as she thought about everything that had just happened. Castle was giving Inara the looks he only reserves for her and his family. The looks that are full of love.

…


	4. Chapter 4

**SO SO SO sorry for the long delay! I have no excuse other that my own procrastination. So I made this one longer than normal as an apology. I am going to try to keep up with this story as best as I can. I will try to update at least once every week/ every other week. And if you have any suggestions or ideas or questions I really would LOVE to hear them. So just PM me and I will work with your ideas!**

**Oh, and when it is just Castle and Inara, I will be referring to Castle as Mal.**

**-Reunion in Paradise Ch. 4**

Back at the hotel everyone decided to call it a night sense it was nearing eleven o'clock. As they parted to their designated rooms, the others couldn't help but notice that Inara was following Castle towards his room. Beckett frowned at this while Lanie, Esopsito, and Ryan threw sad looks in her direction that went unnoticed.

Castle and Inara entered his room and he closed the door behind them. He turned towards her and with slightly sarcastic tone he said, "Well, it seems as if we have things to discuss."

She looked at him, rose her eyebrows, and with laughter on her tongue she stated, "Yes. Yes it does."

Walking over to the two armchairs in the corner on the room, Mal sat down and gestured for Inara to sit in to other one. She looked at him quizzically and he simple gave her a look and as if it were obvious, said, "If we are going to be talking for a while we might as well be comfortable while doing it." She proceeded to continue over and sit in the armchair.

Folding his arms he looked at her, and in a serious voice he said, "I think we should start with the fact that you said it has only been two years since I've been gone."

Inara crossed her legs. "Yes it's been two years for me. But given what your friend said it's been longer for you." She smirked and continued. "And the fact that you look a lot older than when you left also gave it away." She finished barely containing her laughter.

Mal frowned at this. "Hey! I'll have you know that I am ruggedly handsome!"

Inara let her laughter escape as she looked at him and pointed out that he had a wrinkle.

Mal gasped and brought his hands up to his face so fast she was surprised it didn't hurt. "You take that back!" he retorted. Looking like a child who just got his favorite toy taken away.

Inara just rolled her eyes and changed the subject. "Mal don't you remember why we started this conversation?"

He just grumbled something about it being her fault they got off task.

She raised an eyebrow and when he looked at her he put his hands up as if surrendering and said, " . Sorry." He then smirked at her. "You're right. It has been longer for me." He paused and looked her in the eye before continuing. "It's been twenty years Inara."

At that she went shock still and her jaw dropped. However she quickly recovered from his news. "Twenty?" she asked still shocked. She got a nod in return.

"Yup. Time travel is crazy I guess." He said with a humorless laugh. After a minuet of silence he clapped his hands loudly and unexpected, giving Inara a small fright. "So! What happened after I was arrested?"

castle*****Firefly****

After Beckett closed the door to her room she leaned up against it and forced herself to smile. "Come on Kate. You cannot let this get to you. You're better than this." She said out loud coaching herself.

She then pushed herself off the door and proceeded to change into yoga pants and one of her old NYPD police shirts. Thinking about the day and its crazy events, she debated whether or not it was a good idea to consolidate her thoughts with the others. Excluding Castle of course.

Her internal battle came to a close as she opened her door as headed towards Lanie and Esposito's room. When she came to a stop in front of the door and raised her fist to knock but hesitated just for a second before she followed through and knocked four times. She heard mumbling from inside and Beckett could tell they looked through the peephole because Lanie's sentence started before the door opened. "Girl what are you doing?"

Beckett looked at Lanie and past her at Esposito. In her interrogation voice she said, "We need to talk."

Five minutes later Ryan, Jenny, Esposito, Lanie, and Beckett were all sitting in Lanie and Esposito's room.

"So I think you guys know why we are here." Beckett said and slightly grimaced when she realized how awkward she sounded.

"Honey, there is no need to sound like this is an intervention." Laine said with a half smile holding back her small giggle. "We have known that there is something wrong with the picture Castle and Mystery girl from his past have been painting."

"Well technically, given what she said, Castle and Inara were together while he was working with us. So it's not like it was his past before meeting us." Ryan pointed out.

"But that's the thing Ryan." Beckett said, "Don't you find it weird that Castle kept a relationship from us? Excpecialy since he never gave any hint that he was even in one."

"I know." Esposito pitched in. and when they all looked at him he continued, "I mean he has flirted with you every day since he has started shadowing you." He, Lanie, and Ryan shared a smirk while Beckett just blushed and clenched her jaw.

"Come off it Esposito. We aren't in high school anymore." Beckett said a bit harshly. Javier just shrugged knowing he was right. "Anyway, have you guys noticed how, um, off, Inara is?" She asked not really knowing how to word that sentence.

"If you mean how she called Castle Mal? How she seems to tell stories that don't seem real but apparently according to Castle, are real? And how their timelines don't match up?" Lanie said. "Then ya girl. There is something wrong about her."

"I noticed she was calling him Mal also. But couldn't it just be a nickname or something?" Ryan asked.

"But why would Mal be a nickname? What is it a nickname for?"

They were all silent because no one had an answer. Jenny however brought in her thoughts. "Do you think he could have gone undercover for one of his books or something? I mean he is a mystery crime writer."

"That's a good idea Jenny. Actually the most rational one so far, but he doesn't really use an a pseudonym when doing research." This left the group in an uncomfortable silence because no one knew what to say.

Breaking the silence Esposito changed the topic to the mysterious stories.

Beckett definitely had something to say about this topic. "Given that the stories are even true, why does she seem to know more about him than us? All it takes is three hours with her and now we know that he was married three times not two, that he was found naked in the middle of the desert, and that he was in a freaking sword fight to defend her honor." By the end of her rant, her voice had risen considerably. "If you ask me. It all sounds like a story to me. And the last one just sounds medieval."

"It all does sound a bit fishy." Ryan said crinkling his nose. And knowing this subject wasn't going to go much farther with out making Beckett upset, he took the initiative to change the subject. "Anything else?"

"Um. What about her clothing?" Jenny said hopeful she was helping.

"I noticed that too," said Lanie. "I would have guessed that she was from a different country, but she doesn't have an accent. In fact, her English grammar is by the book."

"Is that so strange?" Ryan said. "The English part I mean."

Lanie just looked at him. "Of course it's strange. And the sole reason that it is strange is because when he talked to her, his grammar dwindled."

Ryan and Esposito just looked at each other questionably. "Are you sure?"

"It is so typical that you two didn't notice!" Lanie said with some attitude.

"Well it's not our fault that we don't have super female detecting skills!" Esposito defended crossing his arms as if to prove some point.

"Okay guys that's enough." Beckett said standing up. "I think we have gotten all points across tonight. It _is _late, so lets just call it a night."

"Okay. But what are we going to do?"

"We try to get her to slip up tomorrow and give us information."

As Beckett, Ryan, and Jenny went off to their separate rooms they were thinking about possible ways to and questions to confront Inara with the next day.

Castle*****Firefly*****

"Well at first we had to figure out what to do without you. Jane tried to step up at captain, but of course since Zoë was first mate she stepped up and had put him in line. She ended up giving him a black eye and broken rib." Inara put her had over her mouth to try and stifle a laugh.

However Mal had no restrain and started laughing. "That a girl! Oh man. I wish I could have seen that!" When his laughter died down she continued her tale.

"After the ranks were made clear it was as normal as it could be without you. We still took jobs, but we were very particular in the jobs we took in hopes to find information on your whereabouts. We never gave up hope."

"Aw look at you getting all sensible towards me." He said with a charming smile. "And when you saw 'we'…"

Inara rolled her eyes. "Yes I mean myself included Mal. I have only taken two clients since you were taken. And that was only because we needed the money."

"Now why would a certified companion, and a damn good one at that, choose a bunch of thieves over your shiny world with fancy people?" He said honestly confused. "You could have just left them behind but you stayed. Why?"

She looked genuinely shocked by his words. "Mal you make it sound like you guys were never my friends, that I never cared about you. And you said it yourself that you weren't thieves. That you simply provided for those on the rim planets. Besides, I couldn't just leave right after your absence left _Serenity_ in chaos, Kaylee needed someone to talk to."

"You are something else Inara Serra." He said with a gleam in his eyes.

"I always said you underestimated me Mal."

Following that comment came a comfortable silence and they shared an intense gaze. After a minute he broke the silence and said, "I really have missed you a lot Inara."

"As much as it pains me to say," she said with a warm smile that met her eyes, "I have missed you too Mal."

"That's good." He said as he took her hand in his. "Well seeing as we have a big day ahead of ourselves tomorrow, we should get some sleep."

Inara let go of his hand and stood up quickly trying to hide her blush. "Oh yes. Of course… um… I should head back to the ship then." She started to go towards the door when she felt a hand grab her elbow and spin her around.

"I don't think so," he said as he looked down at her. " You can stay here, and in the morning we can go there together."

"I can't stay here Mal. There is only one bed." She said as if it were obvious.

"So we'll share it."

Looking at him shocked she flatly said, " there is no way I am sleeping in the same bed as you!"

He simply rolled his eyes. "Oh stop your whinin'. You're staying here and you know it, so there s really know point in arguing over it." He then smiled cheekily, "Besides, you know you want to."

"Oh don't flatter yourself."

"Too late" he said with scrunched up shoulders and a smile. He walked over to his suitcase and opened it. "By the way, are you going to use one of my t-shirts, or are you going to wear that?" he gestured to her dress.

She was secretly ecstatic at his question but didn't show it. _He can't know-how I really feel about him. Not yet._ She thought to herself. So she covered it up by saying, "I guess I will use one of your t-shirts. This is one of my finest dresses and I mustn't have it ruined."

"Of course." He said, seeing right through her. As he handed her a t-shirt and boxers he smiled and said, "I'm sure whore academy would frown upon that."

Taking the clothing from him she threw him a sarcastic grin and said, "its sadly nice to see that you haven't changed Mal."

"You shouldn't expect anything less."

She left it at that and headed into the bathroom to change. While she was gone Mal changed in to his pajama pants and took his shirt off. When he heard the bathroom door open he was met by a frozen to the spot Inara with a shocked expression on her face. An expression that he assumed matched his. Lips forming a small 'o' and wide eyes.

Inara finally broke the silence, "Wow Mal." All the while looking at his well-defined chest and abs. "You look… great."

Smiling a cheeky smile he said, "Oh you know, I work out… a lot."

She put her hands up, "Oh i'm sorry. I didn't mean to go and inflate your eg**o." **

"Don't worry. I don't mind." He looked her up and down, realization dawning on him. "Ya know, this is the first time that I've seen you not in one of your insane dresses."

"Well I am a companion Mal. It feels weird not wearing a night gown."

"You'll get used to it," he said. And she chose to ignore that comment, unsure what he meant by it.

He made his way to the bed and got underneath the covers. Inara was still standing in the bathroom door so Mal said, "Com on. Don't worry I wont bite."

She walked around to the other side of the bed and cautiously got underneath the covers. She turned her head and looked at him seriously. "No funny stuff Mal. I mean it."

"Don't worry ill behave." He reached over and grabbed the remote for the lights off the bedside table and shut the lights off. Replacing the remote he turned on his side and faced her. He reached out his hand and searched for hers in the dark. When his fingers found hers he intertwined them.

"I said no funny stuff."

In a serious voice he whispered, "I don't find this funny." She was surprised that he was able to make such a serious tone sound soft and warm. "Goodnight Inara."

Mustering up her voice into an audible whisper she responded "goodnight Mal."

**And that was the last thing said before they both became victim to the impending slumber.**


End file.
